A:Germination takes place in three steps or stages and takes the young seed from a dormant state to the very beginning stage of growing as a seedling. Germination takes place in plants, flowers and trees: this process is to members of the plant family what metamorphosis is to insects such as moths and butterflies. The process requires several critical ingredients to begin, including water, sunlight and nutrients.

A:One common example of a non-green plant is Monotropa uniflora, or Indian Pipe. This completely white member of the blueberry family gets its color from a lack of chlorophyll, or the molecule that synthesizes sugar from sunlight and carbon dioxide.

A:A stem has several functions, including support, conducting water, storing water, producing food and facilitating asexual reproduction. The stem connects the plant's leaves and flowers to its roots. Along with water, the stem carries products from photosynthesis and nutrients to the roots and leaves. It engages in food production through photosynthesis, and it also stores the products made during photosynthesis.

A:Parallel venation refers to a pattern in the veins of a leaf where the secondary veins run parallel to each other off of a central, perpendicular primary vein. Parallel venation is also sometimes used to describe a similar pattern on an insect's wing.

A:Chloroplasts, the parts of plant cells responsible for photosynthesis, are green because they contain the pigment chlorophyll, which absorbs the red and blue wavelengths of light and reflects back the green wavelengths. Chlorophyll absorbs particular colors of light to provide the right amount of energy for photosynthesis to take place. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants use the energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide from the air into carbohydrates for food.

A:Photosynthesis takes place in two stages: the light reactions and the dark reactions. The light reactions take their name because they require the presence of direct light, while the dark reactions do not have the same proviso. Light reactions occur in the thylakoid stacks in the grana for the most part, while dark reactions do not, although they also most frequently happen during the daytime.

A:Venus flytraps live in acid-rich soils mixed with drainage materials and are mostly restricted to specific regions of North Carolina and South Carolina. They can be cultivated at home in a substrate consisting of 65 percent sphagnum moss and 35 percent sand.

A:Leaves are adapted for carrying out photosynthesis by virtue of their flat shape and periodic replacement, and because they contain most of the plant’s chlorophyll. Leaves are the primary location in which photosynthesis occurs, so plants often arrange their leaves to receive the most solar radiation.

A:Potatoes have 48 chromosomes that are arranged into 24 pairs. The number of chromosomes in living organisms, including plants, flowers and vegetables, varies widely. Some, such as the garden onion, have only 16 chromosomes, while other species like ferns, have over 100 pairs of chromosomes.

A:Low-altitude pikas survive by eating moss, but very few other animals can do so because moss is a very poor-quality food, says National Geographic. Fairfax County Public Schools reports that a few small mites and crustaceans eat moss, but most small animals use it as shelter material rather than food.

A:The poinsettia comes from Mexico and Central America. The Aztecs, who called it "Cuetlaxochitl," used the flower in medicine and dyes. After the Spanish conquest of Mexico, Christian priests began using it in religious rituals.

A:Photosynthesis is the process by which green plants manufacture their own food. The process takes place in small structures within the plant’s cells called chloroplasts. Photosynthesis evolved about 3 billion years ago, yet it remains the most important method for harvesting the sun’s energy on the planet.

A:Pineapples start as a cluster of purple flowers that fuse together to develop into fruit. As compound fruits, pineapples are formed from several individual fruitlets that merge around a single core, giving them their distinct pinecone shape.

A:Fungi are eukaryotic organisms that comprise one of the kingdoms of life. Most fungi are multicellular. As eukaryotic organisms, fungi possess cells with organelles, which are structures surrounded by membranes.

A:A plant’s stem serves as the support structure for its above ground components and as a conduit through which water and nutrients can travel. When a stem is green due to the presence of chlorophyll, it also produces food. In some plant species, the stem stores energy or food for future use.